London Children's Film Festival

With premieres, workshops and a welcome chance to see what’s happening in movieland outside the UK and the US, the London Children’s Film Festival is now well established as a highlight of the budding film buff’s year.

Taking place over two weekends (November 21 and 22 and 28 and 29) at the Barbican Centre and nine other venues across London (the British Museum, The Electric Cinema, The Genesis, Greenwich Picturehouse, Phoenix Cinema, Rich Mix, Rio Cinema, Ritzy Cinema and Stratford Picturehouse East), the festival is aimed at children aged four to 11. There are new films from Japan, Sweden, Germany, Italy, France, Norway, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, UK, US and Mongolia, and lots of special events and activities.

The role of children isn’t restricted to watching the films and taking part in workshops. Young Jurors choose their favourite films from the official selection and hand out the Jurors’ Feature Award and Short Film Award at the closing gala; Young Ambassadors present the films and talk to the press.The fun starts at the Barbican on Saturday Nov 21 with a Gala Breakfast Party (10.15am) attended by festival patron Danny John-Jules, followed by the UK Premiere of Hayao Miyazaki’s  ‘Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea’ , the first feature from the Japanese master since 'Howl’s Moving Castle'. The closing event is the first UK screening of Disney’s hand-drawn animation ‘The Princess & The Frog’, set in the Jazz Quarter of New Orleans.


Review: Ponyo on the Cliff by
the Sea
Dir Hayou Miyazaki, Jap, 2008, 100 mins

Review: Pettson & Findus:
Forget-Abilities
Dir Jørgen Lerdam and Anders Sørensen
Swe, 2008, 70 mins

Review: The Letter for the King
Dir Pieter Verhoeff Netherlands, 2008,
106 mins

Review: Lilli the Witch
Dir Stefan Ruzowitzky Ger, 2009, 89 min

Review: Frogs & Toads
Dir Simone van Dusseldorp Netherlands,
2009, 75 min

Review: Turtle: The Incredible
Journey
Dir Nick Stringer UK, 2008, 80 min

Review: Carlitos and the
Chance of a Lifetime
Dir Jesús Del Cerro Spain, 2008, 107 min

Review: Jasper: Journey to the
End of the World
Dirs Eckart Fingberg, Kay Delventhal Ger,
2009, 80 min

Review: Max Embarrassing
Dir Lotte Svendsen Denmark, 2008,
98mins

Film Events
At Burton’s Bedtime Stories Pyjama Party for over-eights (Tim Burton is one of the  festival’s patrons) on Saturday November 21 (5.45-11.30pm in the Barbican Art Gallery; £15)  Roald Dahl biographer Michael Rosen will introduce screenings of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and ‘Corpse Bride’, with a sweet-making and night-cap-making workshop in the interval. On Sunday November 22  (2.30pm; £9) youngsters aged five plus will be invited to play along with professional musicians to accompany two of Buster Keaton’s silent classics ‘Sherlock Jr’ and ‘One Week’ (instruments will be provided).

A free screening of the television adaptation of ‘Framed’ on Saturday Nov 28 November (3pm) will be preceeded by a talk by its Carnegie Medal winning author Frank Cottrell Boyce (another patron), who will  explain how to turn a book into a movie and how he creates his characters .